Poker Face
by Scarlet Secret
Summary: Cora never learns her lesson when it comes to challenging Rosamund at her own game. Femslash. Cora/Rosamund, Cora/O'Brien.


A/N: This has been living on my computer for a year now and I thought I might as well put it up. It's a bit PWP but the girls are nommy enough that it doesn't matter! Erm...assume this happens some time before the war.

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><p>Sarah O'Brien rubbed her aching temples with her free hand.<p>

"You gambled on a two and a seven?"

"I thought you had to?"

Bright blue eyes stared up at her with something almost akin to _hurt_ brewing in them, as though it was _her _fault that this was happening and that rules existed.

"No…just no, m'lady."

"Well you don't have anything matching them!"

She pointed desperately at the five cards laid out between them.

"I've got a flush."

"But we both had a few hands ago and you still won!"

"I had a King high flush."

"And that means?"

"I win m'lady."

Cora sighed and dropped her cards onto the bed between them.

"How do you know all this?"

"Misspent youth down the pub m'lady."

"Right," she sighed, having exhausted all the questions she could potentially ask before having to think about learning things for later. "So…Am I better off trying to get pairs, rather than going for anything fancy? Or will your luck with flushes rub off?"

"Pairs are simpler m'lady. Of course I've heard Lady Rosamund is particularly good at this game-"

"Thank you O'Brien, I know. I was the one who found it out the hard way if you recall?"

The _incident,_ as Cora now referred to it in her head, had been amongst the most embarrassing moments in her life. Possibly the worst and there was a likelihood of something similar happening again that afternoon when her sister-in-law arrived which was why Cora, Countess of Grantham was currently sat in her lady's maid's bedroom listening intently to any instructions given to her.

O'Brien, for her part, smothered any possible sign of amusement at the memory. She was herself quite accomplished at having a poker face after all and it was just as well. Last month Lady Rosamund had locked herself and Cora into the drawing room for a few hours to play a few games of cards undisturbed and, as the two women were almost definitely gossiping, nobody thought anything of it. After the a little while though Rosamund's cackle had sounded through half the house and Cora had come barrelling, naked but for her jewellery, out of the room directly into her maid who'd been on her way to see if she wanted afternoon tea. O'Brien, for the first time in her professional career, was somewhat fazed, but to her credit, had recovered quickly and immediately carted Cora upstairs and away from any potential prying eyes; the laughter had followed them up the stairs.

Thankfully the rest of the family had been visiting Ripon for the afternoon and Sarah had been able to smuggle the other woman upstairs unnoticed and calm and re-dress her mistress before they arrived home. Cora had not wanted to talk about what had happened but it was a week before she'd let O'Brien stand behind her whilst undressing her and at the time she'd smelt quite strongly of brandy. O'Brien had sighed and rolled her eyes, wondering if one day her mistress would realise what a lightweight she really was.

In her maid's bedroom, still shaken by the _incident_ Cora shuddered slightly.

"Oh god O'Brien, she's just so…persuasive. And she was so kind to me when I arrived, I just feel like I can't so no to Rosamund."

O'Brien dealt out another hand to her petulant charge and a deep internal sigh. The teaching was not going well, but then again she'd drawn the short straw and been the one to tell Daisy about the monthly curse so she could do anything if she put her mind to it. She grimaced as she picked up her cards, a two and a seven oddly enough, and wondered if even with the worst hand possible for five card draw she would still win. Against Cora it was more than likely. She wasn't the worst player she'd ever come across – that dubious honour was still held by her daftest sister-in-law – but she was pretty bloody terrible and Lady Rosamund actually did have some skill with it, which was unfortunate.

"Perhaps you could just avoid her m'lady?"

"I'd have to keep avoiding her until one of us was in the ground I'm afraid. No, I have to face her today," she sat up straight with resolve, but slumped again quickly and spoke more pitifully than she ever had. "I just wish I could beat her. Just once."

She leant back against O'Brien's headboard in resignation that she would probably be back in this room later on, stark naked and drunk, whilst her poor maid tried to calm her down.

"Well," O'Brien looked thoughtful and devious. In this precise moment in time, that was exactly how Cora wanted her and she perked up off the headboard, her eyebrow raised. "If you want a bit of revenge on Lady Rosamund then there's only one guaranteed way to do it."

"Send you to play for me?" Cora smiled hopelessly and rubbed her forehead vaguely, it had been hurting since O'Brien had started educating her.

"No m'lady," quite suddenly O'Brien shuffled the cards in a move so fast Cora thought she must have dropped them, but they fell into her outstretched hand perfectly. O'Brien flicked the top card over to reveal it was an Ace. She smirked. "Cheat."

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><p>Cora ran through the tricks in her head for the rest of the afternoon, adding her own twists and turns as O'Brien had told her to do to make things look smoother, and felt calm for the first time since Rosamund had announced her impending arrival. The family were visiting one of Violet's distant cousins, a Frederick Maguffin, a possible suitor for Edith, leaving her with the servants and Rosamund until they both travelled up to join them. She would have preferred just the servants as it was something of a novelty to have only her favourite dishes coming out of the kitchen and the fire in her sitting room being the cosiest but she would have <em>ran<em> to Scotland if it meant she could avoid her sister-in-law.

She had greeted the eternally smirking woman with as much cordiality as possible, hoping to god that the few little paper cuts she'd acquired earlier weren't obvious and Rosamund, upon seeing them, wouldn't somehow discern that she'd spent the morning with her lady's maid being taught how to cheat at cards. It turned out she had rather an aptitude for cheating at the game, something that had delighted O'Brien no end for some reason and now they were sat the drawing room and Rosamund's eyes were burning into hers, daring her to do something that Cora was still half-convinced she would regret later on. She'd had O'Brien bring them a bottle of wine already because, although she'd said she had no intention of getting drunk (her maid had raised an eyebrow at this), she thought it best that things were blurred at least a little bit. Plus Rosamund drank like a fish and was more likely to make mistakes if intoxicated.

"Shall we play that little game of yours darling? I think I have some cards in here somewhere and I'd like a chance to redeem myself." She laughed cheerily, as though the incident had been nothing and her sister-in-law hadn't stripped her bare and…done ….other things.

Rosamund's smirk grew. "Of course, have you been practising?"

"Oh my dear, it is just a game!"

She shuffled the cards, pointedly pretending to still be slow at it. In fact O'Brien had shown her some neat little tricks for doing it quickly but it wouldn't do to give the game away to Rosamund quite so quickly. She dealt and glanced at her own cards, pleased with herself for the slight-of-hand she had achieved. She won the first hand!

"Oh darling, we are playing by the previous rules of course?"

Rosamund pursed her lips briefly, before acquiring a dazzling smile that belied what had just occurred. She was panicking! Cora cheered inside.

"Of course we are. What shall it be?"

Cora pretended to consider, as though she hadn't planned this out all morning when O'Brien's tutoring made her realise she might stand a chance.

"The dress I think. It is in the way of everything else after all. Here let me."

She shot out of her seat and was next to her sister-in-law before Rosamund could stand up. The older woman looked most put out and Cora simply smiled at her charmingly.

Fiddling with the clasps on Rosamund's dress took longer than she anticipated – how on earth did O'Brien do this so efficiently? – but eventually the material yielded and creamy skin clad in lacy crimson fabric came into view. Dear lord! She'd always thought Rosamund was lying when she described the lurid underwear her fourth husband had liked to see her in. Cora blushed but daren't stop, she wouldn't give Rosamund the satisfaction and she intended to be just as leering as her sister-in-law had been. It had made her feel distinctly uncomfortable but she felt it was worth putting herself through it to watch the other woman endure it.

She gave a final tug and the dress fell to the ground. Rosamund casually leaned down to pick it up, bending herself against Cora and causing the American woman to jump at the contact. Damnit! If she'd made the mistake of getting into that position in front of Rosamund the other woman wouldn't have hesitated for a second to do or say something unseemly and unexpected. In future, she thought as she slid back into her seat, she'd just have to be more vigilant.

Rosamund sat back down, seemingly completely unconcerned about Cora seeing her like this. She crossed her legs elegantly and reached for the cards.

"My turn to deal?"

Summoning a smirk and ignoring the swell of Rosamund's breasts against the shiny corset, Cora nodded.

"My, my darling, you do look flushed."

Cora ignored her but decided for the facetiousness she was going to get a flush next time. She glanced at her cards and smiled, swapping a card for one hidden in her sleeve instantly and impossibly quick. Really, she thought, O'Brien was wasted here.

Rosamund won the hand. Cora boggled at the cards on the table. _How_ on earth had she done that? O'Brien had not taught her what to do if the other woman just happened to possess a better hand than the one she had prepared for.

"Dress darling. Now."

She stood slowly and Rosamund made quick work of the dress. Cora kept her spirits up. She was no worse off than Rosamund was, her dignity and revenge was still salvageable.

She dealt, sure of herself this time, she had the cards and she was going to win. She didn't.

_Twenty minutes later._

"Feeling brave darling?"

Cora scowled, wondering whether it was worth keeping sober at this point, and tried to arrange her arms so they would go some way to covering her breasts. She had been rapidly losing clothes since the first triumphant round and, though she had managed to obtain shoes and a stocking of Rosamund's, she was the clear loser already.

Rosamund had taken particular delight in the last round, relieving Cora of her chemise personally – she had trapped Cora's hands briefly above her head with the material, her head still covered but with bare, helpless breasts that she had been slightly concerned about Rosamund's intentions for – and her sister-in-law's sharp blue eyes were trailing over her body freely, making her feel like an object of pornography.

She shuddered under the scrutiny, sparing a thought for poor O'Brien later on when her mistress would once again be returned to her in a state. She hadn't fully informed her maid of Rosamund's final rule. The final forfeit for losing the entire game which, in her brandy-induced haze last time, she had agreed to readily. Last time it had been a shock, this time it was going to be mortifying.

Cora shuffled the cards awkwardly, although really it wasn't as though Rosamund hadn't seen her breasts before. If they continued to play this stupid game on every visit then Rosamund was soon to solidify her third place in the list of people who had seen her breasts the most. She frowned slightly, wondering distractedly who was first out of Robert and O'Brien these days.

She dealt and felt a brief stab of hope. She had good cards! She had long since lost the ability to cheat, all of O'Brien's teaching had left her and she supposed she couldn't blame her maid, it was her own fault for underestimating Rosamund after all. She was down to her drawers but there was the slight possibility that she might have at least one rounds grace.

"Flush! Ten high!"

She knew she had probably been over-excited but really, Rosamund couldn't-

"Flush. King high. I win…" smiling with smug triumph and raking her eyes over Cora's body, in a studied attempt to make her feel uncomfortable, Rosamund pointed one manicured finger at Cora's waist. "Off."

Cora stood up and braced herself mentally. _Just get it over with Cora! Take them off, let her have her fun then run to O'Brien and sob with indignation! She'll never let you live it down if you don't!_

She pulled the material down her thighs quickly and sat back down, crossing her arms like a petulant child. She'd _do_ the final forfeit if she had to, but Rosamund was going to have to _ask_. So there! Her sister-in-law cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly to make her breasts bulge over her corset.

"You know the rule darling. On the sofa and assume the position."

Rosamund was enjoying this far too much and, flushing from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes Cora stood up, determined to go through with this – she would have taken delight in doing it to Rosamund so it was an insult to her honour if she didn't do it surely? – and knelt on the edge of the sofa, bending forward slightly and wrapping her hands around the wooden top to keep herself balanced.

She sucked in a breath when she felt the other woman move behind her; when she had been drunk this had all been rather perversely pleasurable and it wasn't until Rosamund had finished that Cora realised quite what had happened. She supposes that she should have been angrier with her sister but the red-head had been just as drunk and uncontrolled in her actions. This time it was excruciating and Rosamund was enjoying every single second.

Quite without warming the older woman wrapped one of her stockings around her eyes, obscuring Cora's vision utterly. Good god! What if someone came in and saw her like this?

_Oh for god sake Cora, it's bad enough as it is! A blindfold is hardly going to make it look worse._

Goodness, but this was humiliating! At least there was no one here to see it except Rosamund, although she supposed in some ways her sister-in-law was one of the worst to see her like this but at least Rosamund would-

Oh god! She was touching her already! Slow, deliberate strokes to her traitorously wet sex and all she could do was let Rosamund have her way with her. And Rosamund thoroughly enjoyed having her way with people, especially, Cora had discovered last time, with her trembling sister-in-law. Oh god how she wished Rosamund would just get this over with.

"Rosamund…please…"

Her sister-in-law leaned in closer, her silk clad breasts were pushing into her back, and purred into her ear with honeyed tones that made her sex feel needier than ever.

"Please what? Co-ra…" she singsonged. "Beg me…"

Cora leant her head on the sofa in between her hands and groaned. She clambered above her pride.

"Fuck me. Now."

Two fingers pushed suddenly in her from behind and she cried out into the sofa, trying to smother the noise with the cushion. Rosamund began a steady rhythm, picking up pace and reaching her other hand around to pull at a taut nipple, the shock of which made her push back wantonly, desperate to find a quick release and leave.

Oh dear lord but this was so good. She felt so sordid like this and spread her legs further, pushing back against Rosamund's hand shamelessly. Her sister-in-law tweaked her nipple hard and danced a third finger around her sex. She was getting close, she could feel the heat building in the pit of her stomach and she tightened around Rosamund.

And suddenly Rosamund was gone. Cora had no idea what she was doing until she returned behind her and leant down to kiss the back of her neck.

"Hope you don't mind darling, I'm passing you on."

Utterly confused Cora mewled, wishing that Rosamund would just finish her off so she could run away. She didn't and there was a short, sharp knock on the door. Cora shot off the sofa and, still blindfolded, fell onto the seat immediately in panic.

"Come in O'Brien."

A small part of Cora breathed a sigh of relief. If it was going to be anyone, she was glad it was her maid; she would have been with her soon anyway. But still, to find her like this! She pushed at the blindfold but decided to keep it on so she didn't have to see O'Brien's shocked face – what must the woman think of her?

Rosamund collected her dress off the nearby chair and winked at Sarah, aware that Cora couldn't see them. She nodded towards the Countess.

"You'd better _tend _to your mistress O'Brien."

Sarah utterly ignored the other woman and grasped for Cora's trembling form. She could feel the heat of the other woman under her hand and quickly collected the clothes strewn on the chair; she pulled the makeshift blindfold off her mistress and throwing an arm around her, hurried her from the room. She'd already made sure that everybody would be distracted downstairs which was just as well really given the Countess' state, which she was a little bit ashamed to admit she had anticipated despite her own tutoring this morning.

They all but ran up the stairs. Sarah found herself having to half-carry the shuddering woman some of the way, slightly concerned about the flush dominating her skin, until eventually, after what seemed hours, they reached the Countess' bedroom.

Half-sobbing Cora sunk onto the bed defeated. She was in such a state now and Robert wouldn't be back for three days at least! She could do it herself of course but it was never as good on one's own…

She looked up at her maid. Somehow she looked utterly desirable and she had been so sweet to her and it really wasn't _her_ fault that she'd failed so spectacularly and Cora was suddenly desperate to know what Sarah had hidden under her dress.

"O'Brien…Sarah…I don't suppose I could ask a favour?"

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><p>In her room Lady Rosamund Painswick reposed on her bed with a grin and picked up the note that was resting on her pillow.<p>

_R._

_I couldn't have done better myself. Next time I'll teach you a Royal Flush._

_S._

Rosamund laughed and looked forward to her next visit with relish.

End.


End file.
